it's actually not *that* difficult with the right software. i've used lots of different software for the job, and the best utility to do the job is Canopus ProCoder. it will retain excellent quality, and you don't have to re-encode the audio at all.
the only downfall is it takes a good while to do... on my modestly fast editing machine (P4 2.8GHz with 2GB RAM), it takes about 2 hours to convert 30 minutes of footage. by that ratio, it would be about 8 hours to convert a 2-hour show... keep in mind, this isn't horrible or the end of the world. you can just set up the encoding to run overnight. when you wake up, it's done.
BigRay - i'd be VERY interested in that Nick Drake DVD you mentioned. any way i could get a B&P for it? (don't have any Nick Drake to trade, but would love to get a copy for a dear friend who would die for footage of Drake.) if we can sort out something, please PM me.